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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Xju . FOREST SERVICE ( 
CALIFORNIA l i 



THE UNCONTROLLABLE FIRE 

By Roy Headley 



SOME men say that the Government is all wrong in keeping fire 
out of the National Forests, that keeping fire out simply means 
[piling up an accumulation of inflammable brush and litter, and that 
[sooner or later a fire is bound to get started in this accumulation 
land sweep all before it. 




Trinity National Forest, Calif. A forest protected from fire. No burning allowed. 
Note the young growth coming in. 

There is a certain amount of truth in this theory. Fires which 
are allowed to run at will over a country undoubtedly consume 
large quantities of the dead wood and vegetable matter on the ground, 
and in addition much living brush and many small trees are killed 
or destroyed. Sometimes the fire leaves dead but unconsumed 
material which makes the area more inflammable than ever, and 
sometimes the fire kills even the mature timber and brings about 
the growth of an impenetrable brush field; but in general it is true 
of a large acreage (particularly in yellow pine) that fire keeps the 
ground "clean" so one can ride around over it on horseback and see 
long distances. 

On the other hand, when the Forest Service keeps fires out, 
the litter certainly accumulates; the brush, at least where former 
fires have left insufficient mature trees to shade it out, gets worse; 
and in addition to the litter and the brush there comes up usually 
a rank growth oi tree seedlings— often occurring in dense thickets. 
All this growth seems like " brush" to the man who has to ride through 
it after cattle, but the forester distinguishes very carefully between 



116643—19 



Monograph 



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/ — 

brush and tree seedlings, for the same reason that the grain farmer 
distinguishes between weeds and wheat. 




McCloud Flat, Siskiyou County, Calif. Area burued over three times in seven years. 
Notice scarcity of timber and density of brush. 

Now all this litter and brush and tree reproduction unques- 
tionably makes it harder to stop a fire than if the ground had been 
kept "clean" by repeated burnings. What, then, shall the Govern- 
ment do? If its main object was to keep the ground clear, and if 
there were large areas of agricultural lands to be cleared, the Durning 
which the Indians and early Spaniards are said to have practiced 
might secure excellent results. Its object, since all large areas of 
agricultural lands are eliminated, is to make the National Forests 
produce as near as practicable to 100 per cent of their maximum 
timber-producing' capacity, instead of carrying, as they now do, a 
mere fraction of the possible stand. We have now on the National 
Forests an average of, say, fit teen mature trees per acre, while we ' 
should and can have at least twenty-five. One reason we have fifteen 
instead of twenty-five is — fire. The old Spanish and Indian method 
of keeping the ground clean was, of course, a poor method of getting 
a full crop of timber. A look at one of the brush fields, so common 
in the timber belt in northern California, on most of w T hich there is 
evidence that fire killed the original good stand of timber, will 
prove this to one's satisfaction. Whenever we see a brush field 
with dead snags still standing in it we may know that the process 
of converting timberland into brush fields by fire is going on there 
right under our eyes. 

If, then, the purpose of National Forest management is to 
increase the density of the stand of timber and to bring the annual 
income of salable timber to a maximum at the earliest practicable 
date, what is to be done about the increasing difficulty of protecting 
such a forest from fire? 

There are sincere people who believe that, because of the dense 
growth which has accumulated and will accumulate as a result of 
keeping fires out, a fire will sometime occur which no human power 

MIS - 2« WW 



can control. Is it true that such a fire may sweep away not only 
the tiee reproduction so much desired, but also a lot of the mature 
and merchantable timber which would have survived but foi the 
practice of keeping fixes out 1 ? And, if so, why try to improve our 
forests if the effort will merely lead eventually to the destruction of 
such forests as we now have? 

There are, no doubt, pessimists in San Jacinto and Hemet who 
say there is no use to rebuild anything but shacks, because, sooner or 
later, earthquakes will wreck any first-class buildings they may put 
up. Nevertheless, the towns of San Jacinto and Hemet have already 
been rebuilt, and with first-class structures, for that is the spirit 
which has made California and which has made the Pacific Coast. 




McCloud Flat, Siskiyou County, Calif. The result of repeated fires. Note size and 

density of brush. 

Would anyone seriously propose that the Forest Service abandon 
( the effort to improve the foiests, because the very improvement of 
the forests would make fire protection more and more difficult 1 ? 
"But," someone may say, "building a fully productive forest and 
building cities are not the same thing." "I am still afraid," this 
doubter may say, " that fire can not be controlled as the litter and 
other material accumulate." It happens that facts have been 
recently brought out that bear directly on this point. 

If the theory is true that fires can not be controlled after protec- 
tion has allowed litter, etc., to accumulate, then it is reasonable, is 
it not, to expect that losses from fire would increase as the years go 
by and the inflammable material piles up? And if it should be 
found that the contrary actually happens and that, as the litter and 
reproduction increase with passing years of fire protection, the losses 
from fire actually deciease — then should not the prophecy of failure 
for fire protection stand discredited; and should not the burden of 
proof fall on the pessimist who questions the ability of the Forest 
Service to keep out fires permanently? Here is what has actually 
happened : 



Systematic fire protection by the Forest Service on the National 
Forests in California began in 1905 and 1906, about 12 years ago. In 
this 12-year period an er.ormous amount of litter has accumulated; 
brush has grown to full density ; and tree reproduction has thrived in 
many parts of the country until the very face of nature is altered. The 
greater part of the fire losses on the National Forests during this 
period have occurred in the two bad fire years — 1910 and 1917. 







Mc.Cloud Flat, Siskiyou County, Calif. In the last stages. This area has been burned over 
seven times in the last 15 years. Almost no living trees left. Brush tall and thick. 

In comparison with 1910, the season of 1917 was not only the longest 
and dryest; it was a harder fire season because seven more years of 
litter, brush, and seedlings had accumulated. Everyone knows how 
much stuff grows in seven years. The year 1917 should therefore 
have witnessed much more severe losses if there is any truth in the 
pessimist's theory that fire protection can not protect permanently 
What actually happened was this: In 1910 the area of timberland 
burned over in the California National Forests was 240,000 acres. In 
1917 the area of timberland burned over was 20 per cent less. In 
1910 the merchantable timber destroyed amounted to 116 million feet. 
In 1917 only 22 million feet were destroyed — a decrease of 81 per cent. 

In 1918 there was another bad fire season, closely comparable in 
many respects with the 1910 and 1917 seasons; but the area burned 
over was only 73,000 acres and the timber destroyed was only 
20,000,000 feet. In short, losses are being progressively reduced as 
the years go by. 

In the face of this record is there any ground for saying that 
protection can not protect permanently? The Forest Service asks 
the earnest support of every loyal citizen in keeping down fire losses. 
Every individual can give material help by getting the safety habit 
with fire and by urging others to do the same. Forest and county 
officials will appreciate it if you will offer to aid them in enforcing the 
State and Federal fire laws. 



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